South Lakes Region, New Zealand South Island – April 20th – 24th, 2017

First stop in the South Lakes region was Rob Roy Glacier for the 4-hour long valley track. The hike was super rewarding with incredible glacier and waterfall views. I also had a demoralizing grown up moment, when I scolded two tweener boys for being destructive to the environment (they were attempting to destroy a tree with rocks). Their parents were nowhere to be found and likely their newly discovered testosterone was to blame for their distructo-man behavior. When their parents arrived, the family walked past and one of the kids stealth flipped me the bird! Seriously?!?!! I immediately marched down from the rock we were perched on and confronted the parents about their kids’ behavior (grown up moment #2). The parents were livid and made the boy apologize. It was very uncomfortable for both of us. Him because he had to apologize to a fun-killing tattle tale and me because I realized that I’m old.

Pictures from the drive to Rob Roy Glacier.

Rob Roy Glacier valley track.

Rob Roy Glacier.

After the hike, we spent a couple of hours walking around the picturesque town of Wanaka. We admired the fall colors and ate veggie pies and hot cross buns from a local bakery. Next, we made our way to Queenstown where we fought through rush hour traffic, went shoe shopping, filled up with gas, got pulled over by the local authorities, and went grocery shopping. Oh, did I gloss over that? Yes, we got pulled over – or rather Andy got pulled over and was asked to give a breathalyzer because he forgot to turn Freddy’s lights on. The policeman was super friendly though, especially after it was confirmed that Andy was indeed not drunk. He even stayed for a while and chatted with us about our least favorite topic of conversation… US politics. Even the cops in New Zealand are friendly!

Wanaka, Cadrona, and the drive to Queenstown.

That night, we camped in a crowded dirt parking lot with nasty pit toilets before getting up early to ride the Shotover Jet. We had previously never heard of these marvelously powerful, agile speed boats that are capable of reaching dangerously high speeds, turning on a dime, and soaring over water only 4 inches deep, but Scott assured us it was THE adventure activity to do in Queenstown. Although the ride was cold, it was exhilarating! The speed boat captain navigated a narrow slot canyon at surprisingly high speeds coming within inches of the rock wall and periodically doing 360’s! I felt very secure in the driver’s ability until someone asked what he had done before becoming a Shotover Jet boat driver and he responded, “Drove a bus.” Yup, he had been a bus driver prior to being tasked with keeping 20 tourists alive while skirting death in an overpowered boat. Anyway… we survived and it was so much fun that my cheeks hurt afterwards from smiling.

Shotover Jet and the views in Queenstown.

To continue our morning spending spree, we went into Queenstown and bought over-priced shoes to replace my decrepit ones that were holding on by a string (likely, a shoe string). They were full of holes and the soles were worn completely flat. One might say they were passing on holy and soulless (hardy har har har, bad joke). I was sad to let my old standby shoes go, but then again traction was going to be a fun new experience while tramping New Zealand.

Lucky for us, the shoe salesman queued us in to the Autumn Festival that was taking place in Arrowhead, just a half hour away, and conveniently located near our planned afternoon activities. We strolled through the festival, admiring the local handicrafts and gorging on free samples. It was a perfect day: 75 degrees, clear skies, warm sun, and real fruit frozen yogurt! After the festival, we went to watch people jump off a bridge. Being the adventure capital of New Zealand, Queenstown is known for adrenalin pumping fun. It is therefore unsurprising that Queenstown was the founding place for bungie jumping. We spent a couple of hours at the bridge where it all started watching people take the plunge. We would have liked to join them, but the price tag was a bit high for thrusting yourself off a bridge. With some quality laughs under our belts (some of the female Asian sky divers were hilarious), we drove up to the Remarkables Ski Field and hiked up to Shadow Basin Lookout. Although the 2-hour hike was steep and exhausting the views over Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown were definitely worth it. Back in Queenstown, we visited a pub to watch some of the pro rugby match. Being that we have no idea how to play rugby, the wiki instructions were confusing, and we were dog tired from a long day, we only stayed for about a half hour (just long enough to chow down on some potato wedges). 

Arrowhead Festival and bungie jumping at the Kawarau Bridge (the birthplace of commercial bungie jumping).

Shadow Basin Lookout at the Remarkables Ski Area.

The view from Shadow Basin Lookout.

The next day, we made our way to Glenorchy. Apart from the stunning drive (which was actually the highlight), we enjoyed two shortish hikes: one at Bob’s Cove which followed a small peninsula overlooking two beautiful blue coves and the other at Chinaman Bluff where we did part of the Dart-Rees track along the river. We also spent a considerable amount of time at a nearby campground taking showers, doing laundry, and stealing the wifi (yes, Andy and Paige really did steal the code from behind the camp manager’s desk – I was a completely innocent third party witness to their heinous crime). Our camp spot at Chinaman's Bluff, although beautiful, was infested with sand flies. There were literally thousands of them crashing into the van like zombies from the Walking Dead. Sand flies are without a doubt the one dark spot in the blinding bright light that is New Zealand. These small flies are devil beings that bite leaving behind itchy hive-like horribleness that doesn’t go away for weeks. No, I’m not exaggerating, I still have the marks 6 weeks later as I write this (spare me, I know we’re SO far behind!).  

Bob's Cove hike.

Glenorchy. In addition to having a fun name, the town itself is gorgeous! 

Chinaman's Bluff.

Our final day around the South Lakes region was mostly spent driving south towards Milford Sound. We stopped for the night in Lumsden where we camped at a cute old railway station across the street from the public library (with free wifi) and a grocery store. So convenient! 

Views from the drive south towards Te Anau.